Website ranks best and worst drivers by state

The site listed Louisiana in the number one spot as the state with the worst drivers in the U.S. South Carolina ranked second- and Mississippi was third-worst. It’s the second year in a row that Louisiana ranked worst.

The rankings combined the rate of fatalities per 100-million vehicle miles traveled, citations issued for failure to obey traffic signals and seat belt laws, drunk driving incidents, tickets issued and careless driving citations issued. Those rates are all combined into a total score; and the higher the score, the worse the rank.

Illinois ranked 21st-worst in the U.S. with a total score of 139 compared to Louisiana’s total of 220. Illinois had low scores for the rate of fatalities (12) and careless driving (24) but higher scores for drunk driving (39) and for tickets issued (34).

Iowa’s drunk driving score was 4, careless driving was 12 and failure to obey score was 13. Iowa had a higher score for its fatalities rate (30) and tickets issued (32). Iowa’s total scores ranked the state 43rd-worst for driving safety.

In 2011, Iowa and Illinois rankings were reversed. That year, Iowa ranked 21st-worst and Illinois ranked 43rd-worst. That year, Washington D.C. ranked worst in the nation.